Blair's Reviews > The Other Profile

(3.5) Right from the start I was captivated by the caustic tone of Maia, the narrator of The Other Profile. Having moved to Milan (which she hates) with her boyfriend, she doesn’t do much with her time except smoke weed and pick up a few shifts at a local bar – until she meets Gloria, a successful influencer. Despite disliking Gloria and everything she stands for, Maia’s sucked into working for her... and that’s it, really. When I stand back from The Other Profile, I can see it’s a ‘nothing much really happens’ book. Its portrayal of a twentysomething living an aimless life can seem cliched (Maia’s relationship with the older Filippo is tedious, and should either have been a bigger part of the story, or not there at all) and there aren’t any particularly stunning insights about influencers. Why, then, did I enjoy it? Graziosi has unusually good control of her narrator’s voice; Maia’s wit keeps the whole thing alive. I loved reading about her job in the bar and her disdain for the hangers-on surrounding Gloria. Personally I also found it interesting to read a novel in translation about online culture. Not because it’s different – because it’s exactly the same. This stuff is all so flattened and homogenised. Depressing. Anyway, I’d recommend this if you liked Oval, 70% Acrylic 30% Wool or A Touch of Jen.